


‘tis the Season (of Giving out Flyers)

by fullsunlet



Series: Christmas Christmas Time is Here [6]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, Renjun doesn't appear but he is a good friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22052341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullsunlet/pseuds/fullsunlet
Summary: Donghyuck’s about to glare at the next person who hands him a flyer when he comes face to face with the cutest boy in a crowded shopping mall that makes his eyes go wide instead.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Series: Christmas Christmas Time is Here [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1579702
Comments: 5
Kudos: 159





	‘tis the Season (of Giving out Flyers)

Another flyer gets shoved in Donghyuck’s face and it somehow ends up in his hands once again before he can kindly tell the person that he doesn’t want it or to _fuck off_ because he really doesn’t need another piece of paper. Donghyuck stares down at the new one he just received and grimaces at the bright neon purple words - _15% off if you flash this flyer_. It’s bad colour coordination and the font hurts his eyes. He doesn’t even bother reading the rest of it before he walks to the nearest bin in sight and chucks it in. There’s a limit to the number of flyers he’d like to receive in one day and that limit has far exceeded by now.

If it wasn’t for Renjun falling sick (how convenient) and ‘begging’ him to get the remaining presents for their little Christmas party, Donghyuck wouldn’t have agreed to go to the mall on a Saturday afternoon when it was packed with people. People that Donghyuck absolutely doesn’t want to be brushing shoulders with.

But alas, Renjun _is_ sick, or at least Jeno managed to convince him so, and his other four friends, Jeno included, are too busy with food catering decisions and the design of the place they would be hosting the party at that the task of buying presents fell on Donghyuck.

The day started off fine. In fact, it was going very well. Donghyuck received a flyer for some Disney candles and he managed to snag the last two pieces at a discounted price (courtesy of the coupon on the flyer). After which, he found a mini Christmas tree at a shop which offered free delivery. It went downhill from there.

Flyer after flyer appeared in his face the moment he stepped into the main square of the mall and while the first one he received for the candles were useful, the rest of them were simply trash. Most of them were food vouchers that he wouldn’t be averse to getting on any other day when he actually had the time to sit down and eat them. Other than that, there were too many flyers for clothes that are on sale (clothes that couldn’t be sold and therefore have to be on sale, in Donghyuck’s opinion) with a too-high minimum spending that makes Donghyuck wonder what the purpose of the sale is for in the first place.

It’s enough. Donghyuck doesn’t need another flyer, doesn’t want another one, and he’s ready to glare at the next person who hands him a flyer when he comes face to face with the cutest boy that makes his eyes go wide instead.

Wordlessly, like he’s trapped in a trance because of some kind of spell the stranger casted, Donghyuck voluntarily accepts the flyer despite promising himself just seconds ago that he wouldn’t take any more, that he would glare at anyone who even tries giving him another flyer.

“What’s this?” Donghyuck asks without even looking at the paper. Any excuse to talk to the other but the other boy doesn’t say anything as he hurriedly uses his free hand to point at the pizza on the flyer.

Right in the centre in some zig-zag font are the words _20% OFF ANY REGULAR-SIZE PIZZA_. There’s always a fine print with deals like this and Donghyuck’s suspicion is confirmed when he scans the paper and his eyes land on the words _only available for dine-in_. Donghyuck definitely doesn’t have the time to dine in today (as much as he wants to).

Looking up from the flyer, Donghyuck takes his time to have a proper look at the pizza boy. He looks from the pizza boy’s face down to the hideous apron he’s wearing and decides that his face is without a single doubt, the better option to look at. Nobody should be allowed to wear an apron with flying (yes, not frying) pans and shapes of pizza dough on it. Thankfully, the pizza boy has a cute enough face that he doesn’t look that bad and Donghyuck doesn’t even want to imagine it on someone lesser.

The pizza boy doesn’t talk to Donghyuck or even try to make conversation with how blatantly he’s staring at the latter with his mouth open like he wants to say something but can’t remember how to speak. (Although the same can be said for Donghyuck.)

Smiling to himself, Donghyuck reads the other’s name tag. “Mark,” he says aloud, testing the name on his tongue. He’s torn between staying to continue talking to Mark, or _at_ Mark, or walking off to continue his shopping (that needs to be done because Renjun is oh-so sick). “You’re cute.”

There isn’t much to think about when the choice is so clear. Renjun can get well soon and get the rest of the presents for all Donghyuck cares.

Praising the pizza boy so soon and so directly proved to be a mistake in the next second when the rest of the flyers that were previously in his hand started cascading down to the floor. Donghyuck watches in amusement as panic slowly settles on pizza boy’s face and he scrambles to pick the flyers up.

Having a decent heart and out of his own goodwill (towards cute boys), Donghyuck proceeds to bend down to give Mark a helping hand. It’s probably his fault for calling Mark cute that made the other so flustered that he couldn’t hold onto the flyers properly anyway. So Donghyuck should take responsibility to a certain degree.

Watching Mark try to gather the fallen flyers is like watching a duckling trying to walk for the first time and Donghyuck eventually ends up with most of them.

“Thank you so much,” Mark rushes out, stretching his hands out for the flyers and then quickly retracting them again. He gazes into Donghyuck’s eyes, sincerely thanking him once again. “You didn’t have to but you did. Thank you. Thank you for helping me.”

“He speaks,” Donghyuck comments, trying hard to contain his laughter when Mark’s cheeks turn slightly redder and he fumbles incoherently, tripping over the number of ways he can thank Donghyuck. When Mark ducks his head in embarrassment, Donghyuck traces his line of sight and finds it ending on the flyers in his hands. “You want them back?”

Head shooting up, Mark nods hurriedly. “Yes! I mean no,” he corrects himself quickly with a frown and then a look of defeat appears on his face and Donghyuck takes pity on him.

“Maybe you want to give those out instead.” Donghyuck motions to the pouch sewn in front of the horrendous apron that held a stack of flyers. “You don’t seem like you’ll be finishing any time soon.”

Crestfallen, Mark looks at all the flyers sticking out of the pouch before he sighs. “I can give those out later if I have the time. I should really head back to the store…” He trails off, timidly raising his eyes to the flyers in Donghyuck’s hands again.

“I’m not going to steal them, if you’re wondering.” Donghyuck assures Mark knowingly. “I’ll help you give these out while you can start on those in your apron so your boss won’t send you out again. I’ll keep you company.”

Mark looks like he wants to reject Donghyuck but he also looks like he wants to accept the help.

Donghyuck helps him make the decision when he introduces himself. “I’m Donghyuck.”

They start out standing just a bit away from each other so they won’t approach the same people but it’s only been twenty seconds before Donghyuck’s back beside Mark.

“So,” Donghyuck begins with the first question on the long list he created in his head just to get Mark to talk to him. “Do you earn a lot?”

It’s a question that Mark gets asked a lot, even by people he isn’t all that close to because he’s working at a fancier-than-average pizza chain but it’s the first time he actually forgets what his hourly wage is. He gets distracted by Donghyuck’s eyes, the moles on his face and he gives up when the number doesn’t appear in his mind and settles with, “It’s average, I guess?”

Not wanting to appear overly forward in flirting so quickly (even though he did start their conversation by calling Mark cute), Donghyuck launches into a series of more generic questions. “What’s your working hours like? Are you usually out of the store distributing flyers like this?”

Mark knows his job-scope by heart. Jaehyun made sure that it’s drilled into his head on his first day of work but once again, his memory fails him, and he doesn’t know if it’s Donghyuck’s honey voice or heart-shaped lips that is the cause of it. “I do the smaller chores like distributing flyers and I handle the phone calls for deliveries most of the time.” He purses his lips, wondering why his job-scope sounds so wrong. “All the time,” he rectifies. “And I do the deliveries myself too.”

“So you live up to the reputation of being a cute delivery boy, huh?” Donghyuck comments off-handedly, not expecting Mark to take him seriously. But Mark _does_ and be looks like he wants to throw the flyers onto the ground this time to run away. Far, far away from Donghyuck.

Mark coughs, more like chokes, while he tries to keep a straight face, only smiling brightly when he hands out a flyer. “I’m only doing my job.”

“And I’m helping you,” Donghyuck laughs. His phone vibrates in his pocket then and he scowls, already knowing who messaged him.

Renjun.

_when are you coming back with the presents?_

Out of spite, Donghyuck replies, _when you recover_ , and before he can keep his phone, another message comes in.

_come back now or Jeno and I are going to finish all the food._

“You’re sick!” Donghyuck hisses at his phone, earning himself a few weird stares from strangers.

“Do you have to leave?” Mark asks, sounding a little disappointed. Or it might just be Donghyuck’s imagination.

A huge part of Donghyuck wants to say, ‘no, not yet’, but he received a message from Jeno and it possibly sounds sadder than Mark.

_please come back, donghyuck D:_

Sighing, Donghyuck gives Mark an apologetic look. “I’ve got to go.” He gestures to the paper bag he’s holding in his left hand. “I have these candles and a party I have to get to.”

“Of course.” Mark nods in understanding. “You didn’t have to help me with picking the flyers up or distributing them but you did so...thank you.”

“I wanted to,” Donghyuck reasons. “I was bored,” he lies, not wanting to tell Mark it’s because he’s bored _and_ because Mark is cute and Donghyuck rather spends time with him than being ordered around by a sick friend who isn’t even really sick. “Can I see you again?”

“If you drop by the shop for pizza, I guess?” Mark replies. He grins at Donghyuck, mentally patting himself on the back for a smart answer but judging by the look on Donghyuck’s face, the other boy clearly didn’t find it all that clever and Mark’s face falls. “I mean - sure- of course, you can see me again. But I’m just saying that if you come to the store, you get to see me and twenty percent off a regular-size pizza.”

Shoving the flyer back into Mark’s hand, Donghyuck smiles a little too sweetly when he says, “I don’t want pizza, Mark.”

When Donghyuck turns around and starts walking away, Mark doesn’t stop him for two reasons. One, he might say something to chase Donghyuck away for good (he has an intuition he might see Donghyuck again, soon even perhaps). And two, because he has this strange feeling that he really needs to be back at the store and that Jaehyun is currently agonising over something that should have been Mark’s job.

Mark looks at his watch, curses _fudge_ when he notices the time and sends a small prayer to heaven that Jaehyun will not have his neck.

Fortunately for Mark, Jaehyun doesn’t have his neck. In fact, after Jaehyun’s little lecture about him being back at the store late, and the appearance of a customer (whom Jaehyun accidentally said ‘I love you’ to) named ‘Kim Doyoung’ who came to collect his pizza, Jaehyun’s mood improved significantly, making Mark’s life easier by default. Jaehyun even offered to clean the tables and handle the register while Mark took a (long) break in the backroom.

There’s only an hour left until Mark’s shift ends and he almost loses hope of seeing Donghyuck again when the door to the store opens and Donghyuck is standing right there at the endurance.

“I threw the flyer away,” Donghyuck says as a greeting to Mark. “Do I still get twenty percent off my pizza?”

Mark blurts the first thing that comes to his mind. “You can have it for free with my staff pass.”

“I won’t say no to free pizza,” Donghyuck gives in easily. “You really know the way to my heart and stomach, Mark,” Donghyuck teases, batting his eyelashes, enjoying the way Mark’s face turns red.

“How did the party go?” Mark asks, out of politeness.

“It went well.” Donghyuck thinks about how Renjun miraculously recovered the moment the food caterers arrived. The party hasn’t ended but Mark doesn’t have to know that. “But I wanted to see you again,” he tells Mark honestly. “You know, I wasn’t supposed to be the one picking up presents but my friend…” Donghyuck wonders if Mark can hear the inverted commas for the word ‘friend’. “He fell sick so I came instead.”

“I’m glad though,” Mark replies truthfully but he quickly shakes his head. “Not that I’m glad about your friend falling sick - ” Donghyuck scoffs at that and Mark raises a brow. “But I hope you thank that friend, then.”

Donghyuck nods in agreement, laughing along with Mark though he knows that he will never, in this life, thank Renjun for something like getting him together with a cute pizza boy. (But he does thank his friend in his heart in the end.)

**Author's Note:**

> I will update [this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21511738) I swear but let me continue promoting it first
> 
>   
> [twt](https://twitter.com/fullsunlet)
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!


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